There was a point at which a number of African-American composers were writing serious, important work, writes Joseph Horowitz. “Racial prejudice, personal and institutional, obviously inhibited the potential success of a Dett, Dawson, Still, or Price. But a subtler prejudice was aesthetic.” – The American Scholar
Category: music
The Reinvention Of Opera Philadelphia
The refrain “adapt or die” haunts many performing arts organizations, so it’s fascinating to find one that heeds the warning, discovers what it needs to do—and then actually does it. – The Philadelphia Citizen
Lyric Opera Of Chicago Names Music Director To Succeed Retiring Andrew Davis
Davis, now 77, will have been music director and principal conductor at Lyric for 21 years when he retires at the end of next season (2020-21) Succeeding him will be Italian conductor Enrique Mazzola, 51. – Chicago Tribune
Lyric Opera Of Chicago Picks A New Music Director
Enrique Mazzola, who is currently the principal guest conductor at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and was until recently artistic and music director of the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France in Paris, declined to give his age, describing himself as “old enough to take the position of music director, and young enough to take it with energy and enthusiasm.” – The New York Times
The Rebel Conductor With A New Vision For Classical Music
Musicians say that his uncompromising approach to music — he is famous for marathon rehearsals and recording sessions, and for late-night salons where guests recite poetry, play music and talk until all hours — has almost mystical effects. – The New York Times
African-American Is New Chief Conductor Of BBC National Orchestra Of Wales
Ryan Bancroft, a 29-year-old native of Long Beach who studied at CalArts, discovered classical music through a one-minute clip of Beethoven pre-loaded on his family’s first computer, and he cites as a chief influence Ghanaian dancing. – The Telegraph (UK)
Conductor Anthony Parnther Knows The Effect Seeing A Black Person On The Podium Can Have
“I’ve seen it many times when I’m conducting, and I see young children of various colors sitting in the front three or four rows,” says the new music director of the San Bernardino Symphony in California and the conductor of the historically Black orchestra Southeast Symphony in Los Angeles. “You can just tell, it’s like: ‘Wow, that’s not what I was expecting to see come around the corner.'” – Los Angeles Times
Is It Now A Strike And Not A Lockout? Baltimore Symphony Musicians Reject Both Contract Offer And Play-And-Talk Offer
Management had Meyerhoff Symphony Hall open and ready for rehearsal for this weekend’s scheduled season opening, but the musicians say they won’t play without a contract — and they’ve now rejected both management’s proposed one-year contract for a 40-week season (with only a slight decrease in pay from the previous 52-week contract) and an offer to extend the expired contract through Dec. 31 and keep negotiating. – The Baltimore Sun
Riccardo Muti On The Post-Strike Chicago Symphony
“You cannot say, ‘They don’t work enough,’ ‘What do they want?’ and all these kinds of phrases,” says Muti. “I think still in Chicago people have not realized what they have. What the world knows about the Chicago Symphony is still maybe – how do you say in English? – taken for granted.” – Chicago Tribune
Mezzo Dolora Zajick Will Retire From Opera Next Year
“[Her] final performance will take place at the Metropolitan Opera in the spring of 2020, when she will make her role debut as Kabanicha in performances of Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová scheduled for May 2, 6 and 9.” – Opera News